An Indiana eighth grader is making headlines for refusing to share her “perfect” BMI (body mass index).

Fourteen-year-old Tessa Embry, who is a student athlete, refused to complete a school take-home assignment asking her to calculate her BMI, a measure of body fat and general health, and give a definition for the term, Today reported. The self-described “bigger girl” refused to complete the task; instead she packs a powerful one-two punch in a handwritten two-page essay — shared on Facebook by a proud family friend — blasting the shortcomings of BMI and taking a stand for body positivity.

"Now, I'm not going to even open my laptop to calculate my BMI. And I'll tell you why. Ever since I can remember, I've been a 'bigger girl' and I'm completely fine with that," Embry, a softball player on two teams, wrote. "I'm strong and powerful. When you put a softball or a bat in my hand, they are considered lethal weapons."

BMI Assignment
Tessa Embry was assigned a take-home assignment asking her to calculate her BMI and give a definition for the term. Facebook/MacLeodCartoons

The assignment triggered the student athlete's response because just weeks earlier Embry was categorized as obese by her gym teacher based on her BMI, her mother Mindi Embry told Today. This news left the teen considerably upset, so her mother set up an appointment with a doctor who, after running some tests and checking blood sugar and cholesterol levels, deemed the teen healthy.

"The doctor told her, 'You have a good diet, you're very active, you're very strong. You're good to go. I give you a clean bill of health.' And that empowered her," Mindi said. "I think she thought, 'I've got my doctor behind me. I've got my parents behind me. That (BMI) really doesn't matter."

So when this assignment came around, Embry had officially had it. "She said, 'I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to put up with this,' and she asked me, 'Mom, is it OK if I get an 'F' on this assignment?' And I said absolutely," Embry recalled.

In the essay, the teen goes on to say that BMI is an outdated mode of measurement for gauging health, because it fails to discern between bone, fat and muscle proportions. This is a particularly assertive stance for Embry to take with her teacher who will give her a grade, but research says the young girl is on to something. In fact, studies have shown that using BMI to measure health miscategorizes more than 54 million Americans as “unhealthy,” and many others question its accuracy.